Donating a Used Vehicle to Charity

[Scott]

Has anyone here done this?

I see too many "shady" web sites regarding this for comfort

If anyone has a positive experience regarding donating your car for charity (and a site ... ) - I would love to hear it.

Thank you.

Scott
Sanford, Maine

[kristy55303]

scott: if considering donating a vehicle i would do it to the social services organization in your area to help those on public assistance be able to get a car in order to become employed and have a better chance providing for their families themselves, rather than public assistance. just an opinion. yes be weary of scammers. do it through a government controlled organization. you'd be surprised at what a car could do for a family on welfare living in a city w/o public transportation , and what it can mean. Even if it looks bad, as long as it runs, they are gracious for the donation, its tax deductible, and you may indeed help a family become self-sustaining financially. its just a means of getting from home to work and maybe to drop any children off at a daycare. Just my opinion. kristy

EDIT: I have donated a vehicle before to social services that was in my area at the time. it was a 91 ford minivan, not too long ago. it helped a famil indeed get off of public assitance as it was a small town where everyone knows everyone else

[kyle1745]

Im not sure if this is specific to Ohio but I beleive you can donate to the battered women shelter here. From what I have heard it was the only one that was worth it. We had a couple people at work do it.

I seem to remember that the tax benefits are not what they used to be, but still a good things to do if you can get it to a respectable group.

[joshsfrogs]

Charity Motors here in Michigan does a great job (I hope we can leave good feedback on charities). They pick up the car (even if it isn't running). You then get to claim the full value for the car because they re-sell the car to someone in need at half of blue book. The other car donation places that auction the cars somehow don't allow you claim the full value of the car (at least that is charity motors pitch). Maybe Charity Motors has other sites besides the one in Michigan.

[kristy55303]

no thats is an excellent org. to donate your car to too kyle. thumbs up. kristy

[somecanadianguy]

recently i did some work at a firemans training place in a burn house{yes a house they burn over and over for practice} i seen and found out they take donated and even buy some wrecked cars for the pratice like jaws of life , cars on fire buses ect it really blew my mind just how much they train.this was in canada but im sure theres a local one in the us should this strike your intrest. the thought that my donation could help train the person that might have to save a loved one someday is the reason any donation of a car truck ect is going to them. either way cheers for thinking of others not just the buck.
craig

[Scott]

Good ideas all - I particularly like the Battered Woman Shelter approach.

I will look further into that one - thank you.

s

[melissa68]

Scott,

I know our local NPR station participates in a vehicle donation program. You might look into that one as well.

Melissa

Originally Posted by Scott

Good ideas all - I particularly like the Battered Woman Shelter approach.

I will look further into that one - thank you.

s

[iridebmx]

i would donate it to the scrapyard.then take the money from that and then donate money to the battered womens fund.it would help out more and you get a lot more recognition for donating money.(depending on the condition of the car) or put it on craigs list ....sell it and do the same as stated above

[JJuchems]

Goodwill and local high schools.

Our local high school fixes them in auto tech class. They sell them to keep the program going or keep them as taching tools.